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The Houkster

Joseph Houk


Last Updated: 11/20/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Married
Age: 42
Sign: Libra

City: PEWAUKEE
State: Wisconsin
Country: US
Signup Date: 3/9/2006

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Saturday, April 25, 2009 
I finally got through all of the notes in my NIV study bible. 81 pages worth. As I suspected, I had way more notes in the NT than the OT - 58 and a half to 22 and a half. The Gospels were 14 pages total.

Speaking of 14 - that was the number of books that I didn't have notes for. Only three were NT books (2nd Peter, 3rd John, and Jude).

Two chapters had about the same number of notes: I Timothy 3 and James 1. Though I Corinthians 15 had a little more than a page, it wasn't as concentrated as the two previously mentioned chapters.

I also had 28 different verses/passages that were marked "John 3:16". No, that's not a misprint; they are 28 different verses that point to John 3:16. (I'll post them one of these days.)

I also added a page that I'd highlighted from the Ryrie section on doctrine, about the doctrine of Salvation. That made for an even 82 pages of notes.

At some point, I'll share some of the stuff I had written down here - some of it's fun, some of it's serious.
1:03 PM 
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Tuesday, April 21, 2009 

Current mood:  awake
Normally at this time I'd be complaining about the Brewers' slow start, or the Admirals playoff woes (which, at this point, there are none), or on some other topic of general interest to sport (LeBron James deserved the MVP award in the NBA).

However, today I'm going to be talking about something else: notes.

I don't know about you, but if I think something's important, I write it down. I usually grab some paper, a pen and start writing. Lately, I've gotten into the habit of sitting down in front of the computer, book propped open in front of me (aside: anyone who can find me a book holder that can do that for me would be appreciated greatly - and twice that if you can get it for me...) and copying my notes into Microsoft Word. It's how I did it with The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren.

Back in the old days, though, I wasn't fussy about where I wrote notes. In fact, I think I'm like many of us who went to church and bible studies and wrote in the margins of our Bibles. Back on Saturday night, I decided to sit down with my old Ryrie NIV Study Bible and copy down the notes I had in the margins into a separate notebook.

I knew for a fact that I would likely have much, much, much more in the way of notes in the New Testament than in the Old - and I'm pretty much dead on with that. I managed to wind my way through the entire OT - not reading every page, mind you, but just skimming to find the tell-tale sign of ink on the pages. I had a habit back in the days of my youth of preferring ink rollerball pens, which are nice for writing - they give you a feel of using a "real" ink pen, at least to me. However, they tend to bleed through most paper - and they definitely bleed through the thin pages of most Bibles.

All in all, I had 22 1/2 pages of notes on the 39 books of the OT. Thanks to Pastor Nathan James, I had 3 1/2 of those on the book of Hosea. 11 of the books, though, had no notes at all: Ruth, 2nd Chronicles, Nehimiah, Lamentations (yeah, I never was crazy about Jeremiah's wailings), Joel, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, and Malachi. I was somewhat surprised at that last one, because I thought I had noted some of the last verses in Malachi.

So 22 1/2 pages on 28 of the 39 books of the Bible. That sounds like a lot, but keep this in mind: I've only gotten through three of the Gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark and Luke), and I've already got nine full pages of notes. I can pretty much assert that I'll have much more in the way of notes on the NT than the OT. I commented to Sarah in church about how hard it was for me to read when we were doing a series on the book of James - because I had practically every word of the first two chapters already underlined and highlighted!

Anyways, there were some really neat things that I've come across in my transcriptions so far. One of them was, of all things, a song. In the book of Numbers, the tribes of Israel were on the verge of entering the Promised Land, as they were sitting at the Desert of Paran. God told Moses to have one of the leaders from each of the tribes go into the land and explore it, spying out the fruits, trees and soil of the land; and the people who live there and the cities they live in.

In the narrative, each of the 12 men were listed by their tribe. At the end of the list, it was noted that the representative from the half-tribe of Ephriam was given a different name by Moses. We know from his words earlier in the book of Exodus that Moses was "slow of speech and slow of tongue", so it's possible that Moses, due to his speech impediment, couldn't say "Hoshea" properly. Either way, Moses gave him the appellation Yah-Shua - what we call in English "Joshua".

An aside: Joshua isn't the only Yah-Shua in the Bible, of course; by the time of the return of the Jews to Palestine, the name of the other "Joshua" had been shortened to Yeh-Shu, which the Greco-Roman alphabet shortened to IESU, and then later (when "J" was added to the alphabet) Jesus.

Anyways, 12 men went to spy on Canaan. What do you think they saw in Canaan? Well... some saw giants, big and tall - or is that big and strong? Some saw grapes of clusters long. But some, like (assumably) Joshua and the elder Caleb from the tribe of Judah saw God was in it all.

"We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." was Caleb's statement to Moses and the people. Unfortunately, this was drowned out by the cries of the other 10 elders, who started circulating rumors about the giants who roamed the land they explored. When Joshua and Caleb tried to make their case for taking the land - the people of Israel considered stoning them. In the end, the 10 who were bad ended up dying of the plague after 40 more years of wandering through the desert in Sinai - while Joshua and Caleb, the two who were good, ended up leading Israel into the Promised Land. Unfortunately, all of Israel suffered because they believed the 10 that were bad over the two that were good.

And that was where the song comes in:

Twelve men went to spy on Canaan
10 were bad and two were good
What do you think they saw in Canaan?
10 were bad and two were good
Some saw giants big and strong
Some saw grapes of clusters lo-ong
Some saw God above it all
10 were bad and two were good

I might be a bit off on some of the lyrics; I've seen "giants big and tall/grapes from clusters fall" in Google searches instead of strong/long. Still - that song got lodged in my brain over the weekend. I think it might even take over the vaunted title of "song dislodger" from Abba's "Take A Chance On Me."

Back to the story: Joshua apparently didn't forget about the public relations loss from this incident at Kadesh in Paran. This was evident when he became the leader of the Israelites after Moses died - and he sent only two spies into Jericho to look over the land.

Anyhow - I'm having fun with this transcribing. I've already peeked ahead, and I believe that of the 66 books of the Bible, I've got notes on 52 of them - and that's just in this Bible alone. (The other three books are the second book of Peter, the third book of John, and the "forgotten" epistle of Jude.)

I hope to write a few more of my findings in a blog or two over the next few weeks as time permits. To me, it's like finding something you had hidden up in the attic from your childhood.
8:58 PM 
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Tuesday, March 31, 2009 

Current mood:  sleepy
It took me a while to figure it out, but I finally came up with the reasons why I soured so much on Contemporary Christian Music over the years. (Mark, I know you're going to take me to task on some of these, but bear with me - this is from the perspective of the fan, not the insider...)

1.    The music can be very repetitive. How many times can you realistically sing, "Hallelujah, Praise the Lord" before it gets old? And do you know how hard it is to try to track down a CCM song title? Go ahead: type in "Praise The Lord" in iTunes (at least 150 songs) or "Praise the Lord song" in Google (826,000 hits). Of course, as Chris Tomlin points out, "How can I ever say enough?" But still - wouldn't some originality go a long way? Speaking of which...
2.    There is a great deal of "copycat" music. This happens both internally (see "The Altar And The Door" by Casting Crowns; Mark Hall basically admitted that the song came out of a line from "Caught in the Middle") and externally (any group that "sounds" like a current secular music artist). When you can't tell whether you're listening to Three Doors Down or Seventh Day Slumber, you know you have a problem. This comes out as a result of people constantly trying to compare Christian artists to secular ones. Francesca Battistelli would probably be considered the Christian Jordan Sparks or Miley Cyrus.
3.    After a while, it stops being about the music and the message and starts being about the artist. "It's the singer, not the song," according to Roger Daltrey and the Who – and they're right. This can be a huge tripping point for many Christian artists (see White Heart and Amy Grant). To a lesser extreme, it has caused many groups to split up after having a vibrant ministry. I remember Russ Taff leaving the Imperials, and Greg Volz leaving Petra. The temptations of this world can be immense for many; it's twice as bad for Christians because we know better.
4.    Artists that either cannot provide a bible verse alongside every song in their repertoire, or do not have an altar call after their concerts, are perceived as "not doing the Lord's work." Is it horrible that not every song of praise has to be based on a verse of Scripture? Or is it written somewhere that we have to hear the Sinner's Prayer at the end of every concert of praise music? I know that Steve Taylor got a great deal of heat for this with his music. Chris Rice has my admiration in this category, because not all of his music is out of the Bible. Witness "Me and Becky" from his album, Run the Earth Watch the Sky. Of course, I'm a bit out of touch when it comes to concerts, so perhaps the post-concert altar call is a thing of the past.
5.    Innovation is greatly discouraged among Christian artists. This has been true since the days of Larry Norman and the Young Lions; it's still true today with U2. Try to go off in a direction that isn't "kosher" and people are all over you. I didn't actually notice this until recently, but tobyMac actually had a word in his latest single, "Lose My Soul", changed for radio airplay - an absolute shocker among Christian artists! It wasn't until after I had purchased the song on iTunes that I noticed the word "You a punk?" (in the radio edit) was actually sung as "You a pimp?" in the full-length version. Maybe it's my years of being a Juvenile CO, but the latter makes more sense in context. Alas, putting a song that actually uses street language out there for Christian consumption doesn't work, I guess.

Of all five of these, the last two are the ones I still have a big problem with concerning CCM today. After listening to enough secular music over the last dozen years, I learned the hard way that copycat music isn't exclusive to the Christian music industry. But why is it that Christian artists can't "push the envelope", so to speak, in order to either win some, or to be accepted by more people? It seems to have worked (to some extent) for Switchfoot. And I don't think they did it by whacking people over the head with Bible verses after the lyrics of their songs.

Don't get me wrong, now; the music of artists like Chris Tomlin and Casting Crowns have really touched me and filled my soul with joy; it's just that it'd be nice to see and hear some original stuff - some stuff that pushes the envelope, a little bit like Norman did back in the '60's, when no one was playing Christian rock music.

My $0.02 worth. Your mileage may vary.
12:59 PM 
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Wednesday, February 25, 2009 

Current mood:  awake

            My cat has one of those automatic water fountains, called a Petmate Fresh Flow water dish. It essentially has a pump and a reservoir, which keeps the water flowing fresh and keeps my little kitten happy. Now, every now and then it will start to gurgle a bit, and usually that just means that the reservoir is starting to get empty. But there are times when it will gurgle and the reservoir is full.

            Sometimes, I get a bit lazy with the thing, and just jiggle the filter that separates the water for the fountain part – where my cat actually drinks – from the pump. It works, for a while. But then, after a while it can get very loud.

            What happens is that the pump that takes the water and circulates it from the reservoir to the fountain can get clogged up with "gunk". Sometimes this gunk is just the natural crud that's found in our notoriously hard water here in Pewaukee. Other times, it's the hair from our kitten that she's unintentionally shedding. But, what I've found happening frequently is that it's food particles that have gotten into the pump mechanism. My little kitten likes to munch a bit, then switch over to take a drink from her water dish. She can get a little messy about it, so a little piece of food can go shooting into the reservoir pool without us seeing anything. It breaks down enough in the water to get through the filter between the pool and the pump intake, but it starts to build up on the inside until suddenly the pump stops working.

            The only way to clean it at this point is to take the whole thing apart, clean the reservoir and the pool, clean out the fountain, open up the pump and scrape it out with a toothpick, and then re-fill everything until it is back and running.

            This is a lot like Jesus's rant against the Pharisees in Matthew 23 about how they only clean things on the outside, while leaving things pitch black on the inside. Though instead of dealing with hair and food particles, which clog the "living water" of God's love, they were "full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also." (Matt. 23:25-26, NKJV)

            In our rush to just make things "look" okay, we don't take the time to get things really clean. And not only do we suffer in the result, but we tempt eternal condemnation (something Jesus alludes to in Matt. 23:33). The truth is definite – clean what's important, not just what's visible.

8:08 AM 
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Sunday, February 22, 2009 

Current mood:  awake
Category: Life
    Normally, I don't blog here, but I figured I'd put this out there - a bit of daily insight from me.

    A while ago, I was out and about, doing some errands when a song came on the radio. Okay, I have to admit – I was out doing what they call "bumming around." I was looking around at that exotic location of Wal-Mart, just out seeing what was there. I decided to get myself a Coke Zero – in a never-ending battle with my waist size, I swore off drinking non-diet sodas on a permanent basis.
    Of course, this decision was negated by my decision at almost the same time to grab a Three Musketeers Mint candy bar. It's like the old dieting joke about eating three cheeseburgers and a Diet Coke – you make yourself feel better because you're not putting the cherry on top of the quadruple scoop hot fudge sundae with extral whipped cream and marshmallows.
    As I was unwrapping the candy bar, the song came on the radio. I was listening to regular, over-the-air FM radio as my XM radio was at home; normally I'd be switching between ESPN Radio and The Message on my little MyFi. But this time I was listening to K-Love, the Christian music station based out of Mukwonago. Or is that California? I can't quite tell, because their non-music programming is rather generic.
    Anyways, the song was about communion. I can tell you it wasn't Chris Tomlin's "Jesus Messiah", but it did have a line about "His body is the bread, His blood the wine". This was just about at the time I was popping the candy bar in my mouth and sipping on my Coke Zero. And as I was driving along, the thought just popped into my head: "Boy, this is a poor substitute for communion."
    That, as they say, gave me great pause. We go around living for ourselves, without giving a single thought to our salvation through Christ. Proverbs 14:12 says, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Instead of focusing on what we want – the candy bars and Cokes of our spiritual lives – we should instead focus on Christ and what he wants. Just like eating too many candy bars and Cokes will lead you to diabetes and an early grave in the physical world, not focusing on Christ and His kingdom can lead to spiritual death – the one you don't want to be part of.
    "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Jesus quoted this verse, Deuteronomy 8:3, during his temptation in the wilderness in Matthew chapter 4. How often I struggle with my weight and eating those candy bars and downing those Diet Cokes – without thinking that I'm living by that stuff alone.
    Now, I'm not going to say that I haven't had any more candy bars or Coke Zeros since then; however, trying to take to heart 1st Corinthians 10:31: "...Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do (whether it's listen to the radio, go to the bookstore, pump gas in your car), do it all for the glory of God."
    Think of that the next time you bite into a candy bar.



1:29 PM 
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Thursday, February 14, 2008 

Current mood:  restless
Category: Blogging

Sheesh… one of my MySpace friends, Amy, has "Tagged" me to do a "tagged" blog of ten facts about me. Normally, I don't blog here on MySpace, but I guess I'll have to make an exception…

10. Biggest regret in my life was that I didn't get to say goodbye to my mom.

9. Best moment in my life (other than my wedding to Sarah): June 6, 2004. You ever taken a phone call from a drunk Latvian who just won the Calder Cup? I did on this night.

8. I have over 45,145 sports and other collectible cards, and over 600 different card sets from 60 different years. That's from a 1949 Bowman Baseball card (Jerry Priddy) to 2008 Topps and Upper Deck baseball cards.

7. The lady that I got "tagged" by and myself share something – even though I've never personally met her. That something is our birthday, October 6.

6. My alma mater high school has won two WIAA Division I Boys Football championships – both after I graduated from Racine Washington Park. They also have produced three NFL players since I graduated – one of which was in my graduating class (Jerry Woods). My college alma mater did something they'd failed to do in the last three tries: win the NCAA Division III National Championship game, aka the Stagg Bowl. And the new head coach of the UW-Whitewater Warhawks, Lance Leipold, was one of my classmates at UW-W when I went to school there back in the 1980's. In fact, he and I had a class together in my first year of post-grad studies. And, to add to my preoccupation with local football, I have a second cousin (Jerry Mertens) who was an NFL defensive back in the 1960's. Two odd things about him: first of all, he didn't go to Park (he was a St. Catherine's HS grad, same as my mom); second, he was the guy who wore the number 80 for the 49ers before that one guy did in the 1980's and 90's. Can't remember his name...

5. Worst job: that would probably have to be my first "real" job, which was busboy at the Denny's Restaurant of Racine. I'll be honest: I hated it. I also don't look fondly back on my days as a Milwaukee Journal paper carrier (especially on those really cold Sunday mornings where I had to deliver those extra-large copies of the Journal). I do laugh a bit more about my two summers working at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois – except for when I came down with a case of the chicken pox during my first summer there.


4. I have been a season ticket holder for the Milwaukee Admirals since their last season in the IHL, and was also (briefly) a season ticket holder for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2002-03.

3. The job I held prior to my current job with the state of Wisconsin – other than my bus driving days – was a part-time sports writer for the Racine Journal-Times. I covered mostly high school sporting events and took stat information on Friday nights. I did the Golf Preview for two years (1992 and 1993) under Sue Shemanske.

2. I have two strange medical conditions: a Patulous Eustachian Tube and Raynaud's Phenomenon. One is more annoying than the other; one is also caused by the next fact…

1. I have lost over 100 lbs. since 2006, and weigh less now than I did back when I was in high school. And, I did it by doing what you're supposed to be doing – eat less, watch calories, fat and carbs, and exercise more. My motivation was simple: I didn't like the prospect of being a Type II diabetic. I've fluctuated back up to about 165-168 lbs. again, but I'm still a lot lighter than I was in years past.

I'm going to "tag" the ten people in hopes they'll send out a similar one to find out info on them (and those people can't TAG me back, but let me know that you have filled one out).

3:59 AM 
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Wednesday, November 28, 2007 

Current mood:  awake
For those of you who've been following along:

My dad has been out of the hospital for almost two weeks now. He's gotten his appetite back, and we had a pretty good Thanksgiving dinner last week. Basically he's just trying to get back into the swing of things, strength-wise.

His voice hasn't come completely back, so he's not interested in visitors or phone conversations yet, though.
2:26 AM 
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Friday, November 09, 2007 

Current mood:  frustrated
Things... have not gone all that well as of late.

My dad was out of the hospital for a few days, but ended up going back in because he was massively dehydrated. Simply put, any time he tried to eat anything, it would end up coming back up - and without the nausea feeling that you usually get with vomiting. I actually walked in on him Wednesday morning as he was trying to eat lunch, and was greeted by the sight of him puking the turkey back up. Good thing I don't get sickened easily.

He still has an opening in his abdomen (3.5 cm x 1.5 cm x 4 cm, for anyone who cares), but so far as we can tell, that's not what's causing him issues. He goes in for an upper GI this morning - which is part of the reason why I'm still awake at 4:00 in the morning. It's not made any easier knowing that I'm on dialup on his computer in Racine.

It could very well just be the case of thrush he developed when the NG tube was stuck down his throat the last time he was in the hospital is causing all this, but they're going to check anyways. It just seems like everything in the lower part of the plumbing is working - it's just the intake section that's not doing the job.

Keep him in your prayers.
10:25 AM 
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Saturday, October 27, 2007 

Current mood:  anxious
My Dad is doing a bit better, but is still up at the hospital. He's been through two surgeries - one to remove a chunk of his intestines, the other to remove a benign tumor on his kidney.

He hasn't been looking so great in recent days, but it looks like his "innards" are starting to work again. Hopefully he'll be able to get off the NPO restriction and get that tube out of his nose, which has probably made him sound (and feel) worse than he really is.

Next step for him is to start eating and drinking. If he can do that and keep it down, he might be out by this time next week. Keep praying for him.
8:45 PM 
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Friday, March 10, 2006 
For my real blog, go here: The View From Wisconsin. 
8:26 PM 
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